ArnoldArnold, Henry H 'Hap' (1886-1950) American officer. Commander of the Army Air Forces in WW2 More...

DeFranceDeFrance, Smith J (1896-1985) American engineer. Designer and director of research for wind tunnels at Langley, 1922-1940, and Ames, 1940-1965. His work in the 1950's established blunt-body shapes for re-entry vehicles. More...

DoolittleDoolittle, James H (1896-1993) American officer. Noted aviator 1917-1940, led one-way raid on Tokyo in 1942. Post-WW2 through to Sputnik served on scientific advisory boards that shaped US space policy. More...

TwiningTwining, Nathan F (1897-1982) American USAF officer, chief of staff from 1953 and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1957-1960. During this period key decisions were made regarding ICBM, manned spacecraft, and military satellite development. More...

Vandenberg, HoytVandenberg, Hoyt S (1899-1954) Immensely influential American officer, Air Force Chief of Staff in the late 1940's and 1950's during the formative period of rocketry development and the work on intercontinental ballistic missiles. More...

CraigieCraigie, Laurence C (1902-1994) American test pilot. First American to fly a jet aircraft, the XP-59. After WW2 he directed Air Force research and development programs. USAF deputy chief of staff for development, 1951-1954. Retired 1955 after a heart attack. More...

PowerPower, Thomas (1905-1970) American USAF officer, commanded Air Research and Development Command, in 1950s during development of early missiles. Commander of SAC, 1957-1964, during the crash program to deploy the Atlas, Titan, and Minuteman ICBMs. More...

WadeWade, David (1910-) American USAF Officer. David Wade was a career Air Force officer who advanced to the rank of lieutenant general in 1964. He was commander of the 1st Missile Division from 1958 to 1961 and later commanded the 16th, 2d, and 8th Air Forces. More...

LanphierLanphier, Thomas G (1915-1987) American manager, as pilot in WW2, one of the group that shot down Yamamoto in 1943. Secretary of the Air Force, 1949-1950; VP at Convair,1951-1960, at Raytheon from 1962. More...

HornerHorner, Richard E (1917-) American USAF officer, associated with aerospace activities through out his career, pilot during World War II, and duty between 1945 and 1949 as director of flight test engineering at Wright Field, Ohio. More...

Phillips, SamuelPhillips, Samuel C (1921-1990) American USAF officer, talented manager who developed the B-52 and Minuteman for the Air Force, then was brought to NASA to head the Apollo program 1964-1971. More...

DempseyDempsey, James Raymon (1921-) American engineer. Headed development of the Atlas missile at Convair. More...

HedrickHedrick, Walter (1921-) American USAF Officer. Walter Hedrick was an Air Force Brigadier General who was involved in space systems throughout the 1960s. In 1967, he became the Air Force's director of space, deputy chief of staff, research and development. More...

HixsonHixson, Jean (1922-1984) American pilot, one of the Mercury 13 female astroauts proposed in 1961, but never entered training. More...

YeagerYeager, Charles E (1923-) Premier American test pilot. First person to break the sound barrier. Flew all of the pioneering jet and rocketplanes of the 1950's, by the 1990's had flown 201 types of military aircraft and more than 14,000 flying hours. More...

SorlieSorlie, Donald Milton (1923-) American test pilot, 1962-1973. Flights of the M2-F2. Colonel, USAF Selected as a military astronaut candidate in 1973. Later made flights of the M2-F2 lifting body. Retired on 30 June 1973. More...

RushworthRushworth, Robert Aitken (1924-1993) American test pilot. Selected as X-15 pilot in 1958, he made the most X-15 flights and obtained astronaut wings on X-15 Flight 87. Flew 187 combat missions in Vietnam. More...

CooperCooper, Leroy Gordon Jr 'Gordo' (1927-2004) American test pilot astronaut. Flew on Mercury MA-9, Gemini 5. First American to spend over a day in space. High spirited, and reportedly denied an Apollo assignment. More...

KincheloeKincheloe, Iven Carl (1928-1958) American test pilot, 1956-1958. Grew up Cassopolis, Michigan, son of an automotive engineer. Flew the X-2; killed in an F-104 crash, when it flamed out after take-off. More...

ScottScott, David Randolph 'Dave' (1932-) American test pilot astronaut. Flew on Gemini 8, Apollo 9, Apollo 15. Seventh person to walk on the moon. First to drive a lunar wheeled vehicle. Member of first crew to dock in space. More...

RijRij, Jerry Jerome (1950-) American engineer military spaceflight engineer astronaut, 1979-1985. Served at Onizuka AFB, California. Retired from the Air Force in 1995. Thereafter worked in private industry in Virginia. More...

LeeLee, Mark Charles (1952-) American engineer mission specialist astronaut. Flew on STS-30, STS-47, STS-64, STS-82. Was married to astronaut Jan Davis, part of first married couple to fly in space together. More...

StaibStaib, David Paul Jr (1955-) American engineer military spaceflight engineer astronaut, 1985-1988. Left the astronaut corps in July 1988. Later worked at the Pentagon, then at Colorado Springs. More...

Thompson, DavidThompson, William David (1956-) American engineer military spaceflight engineer astronaut, 1982-1985. Retired from the USAF in 1987. Later President Spectrum Technology, Los Angeles. More...

YeakelYeakel, Glenn Scott (1956-) American engineer military spaceflight engineer astronaut, 1982-1988. Master of science in astronautical engineering from USAF Academy, 1978. Stationed at the US State Department. Later with National Reconnaissance Office. More...

TittleTittle, Theresa Mary Stevens (1960-) American engineer military spaceflight engineer astronaut, 1985-1988. Graduated in operations research from the USAF Academy, 1982. US Air Force operations specialist, stationed in the Pentagon. Later a Shuttle Flight Controller at the JSC. More...

MX-2145 American manned combat spacecraft. Study 1953. In May 1953 the Air Force funded Boeing to study their MX-2145 boost-glide vehicle as a successor to the B-58 supersonic medium-range bomber. This was a competitor to Bell's BOMI. More...

Project 7969 American manned spacecraft. Study 1959. North American was the final selected vendor for Manned-In-Space-Soonest. The 1360-kg ballistic capsule would be launched by an Atlas booster to an 185-km altitude orbit. More...

Aeronutronics Project 7969 American manned spacecraft. Study 1958. Aeronutronics' proposal for the Air Force initial manned space project was a cone-shaped vehicle 2.1 m in diameter with a spherical tip of 30 cm radius. It does not seem to have been seriously considered. More...

Bell Project 7969 American manned spacecraft. Study 1958. Bell's preferred concept for the Air Force initial manned space project was the boost-glide vehicle they had been developing for the Dynasoar program. More...

Lockheed Project 7969 American manned spacecraft. Study 1958. Lockheed's proposal for the Air Force initial manned space project was a 20 degree semiapex angle cone with a hemispherical tip of 30 cm radius. The pilot was in a sitting position facing rearward. More...

Lunex Lunar Lander American manned lunar lander. Studied 1958-1961. The largest single development objective for the Lunex program was to provide a spacecraft capable of transporting men and equipment to the lunar surface and returning them to a selected earth base. More...

MC-2 American pressure suit, operational 1958. The XMC-2 full pressure suit developed in the mid-1950s jointly by Wright Field personnel and the David Clark Company for X-15 pilots. More...

Martin Project 7969 American manned spacecraft. Study 1958. Martin's proposal for the Air Force manned space project was a zero-lift vehicle launched by a Titan I with controlled flight in orbit. The spacecraft would be boosted into a 240 km orbit for a 24 hour mission. More...

Mark I ELSS American space suit, tested 1958-59. The USAF Mark I Extravehicular and Lunar Surface Suit was tested during 1958-59, and led to subsequent development of more refined and satisfactory RX-series "Moon Suits" for NASA. More...

Northrop Project 7969 American manned spacecraft. Study 1958. Northrop's proposal for the Air Force initial manned space project was a boost-glide vehicle based on work done for the Dynasoar project. More...

Republic Project 7969 American manned spacecraft. Study 1958. Republic's studies for the Air Force or NACA initial manned space project started at the beginning of 1958. Their unique concept was a lifting re-entry vehicle, termed the Ferri sled. More...

X-15B American manned spacecraft. Study 1958. North American's proposal for the Air Force initial manned space project was to extend the X-15 program. The X-15B was a 'stripped' X-15A with an empty mass of 4500 kg. More...

X-15A American manned spaceplane. 174 launches, 1959.06.08 (X-15 Flight 1) to 1968.10.24 (X-15 Flight 199). The X-15 was the first USAF and NASA project for manned spaceflight, initiated years before Mercury. More...

Midas American military early warning satellite. 18 launches, 1960.02.26 (Midas 1) to 1966.10.05 (Midas 12). Part of a then-secret USAF program known as WS-117L, the MIDAS (Missile Defense Alarm System) program began in November 1958. More...

Pioneer 5 American solar satellite. One launch, 1960.03.11. Pioneer 5 was designed to provide the first map of the interplanetary magnetic field. The vehicle functioned for a record 106 days, and communicated with Earth from a record distance of 36.2 million km. More...

Samos American military surveillance satellite. 17 launches, 1960.10.11 (Samos 1) to 1962.11.11 (Samos 11). First generation photo surveillance; return of camera and film by capsule; program still partially classified, evidently due to embarrassment. More...

KH-2 American military surveillance satellite. 10 launches, 1960.10.26 (SRV 506) to 1961.08.04 (SRV 512). Early US reconnaissance satellite. Carried one 'C-Prime' panoramic camera, with a focal length of 61 cm and a ground resolution of 9 m. More...

Lofti American communications technology satellite. 2 launches, 1961.02.22 (Lofti) and 1963.06.15 (Lofti 2A). The Low Frequency Trans-Ionospheric (LOFTI) satellites were produced as a cooperative effort with the Radio Division. More...

Injun American earth magnetosphere satellite. 5 launches, 1961.06.29 (Injun 1) to 1968.08.08 (Explorer 40). Radiation decay data satellite. May also have been a cover for some NRL ELINT satellites. More...

KH-3 American military surveillance satellite. 12 launches, 1961.08.30 (Discoverer 29) to 1962.01.13 (SRV 571). Early US reconnaissance satellite. Carried one 'C-Double Prime' panoramic camera, with a focal length of 61 cm and a ground resolution of 7.6 m. More...

Oscar International series of amateur radio communications satellites. Operational, first launch 1961.12.12. Launched in a variety of configurations and by many nations. More...

Program 661A American ion engine technology satellite. Study 1961. In November of 1961, Electro-Optical Systems was awarded a contract by the U. S. Air Force to develop a 8.9 mN, cesium-contact ionization IPS for three sub-orbital flight tests. More...

KH-4 American military surveillance satellite. 31 launches, 1962.02.27 (Discoverer 38) to 1963.12.21 (KH-4 9062). Early US reconnaissance satellite. Carried two 'Mural' panoramic cameras, with a focal length of 61 cm, and a ground resolution of 7.6 m. More...

Program 505 American military anti-satellite system. Operational 1962 to 1966. America's first ASAT system was Program 505, which used prototype Nike Zeus DM-15S anti-ballistic missiles, operated from Kwajalein Atoll by the U.S. Army. More...

ERS American earth magnetosphere satellite. 7 launches, 1962.09.17 (TRS) to 1967.04.28. Environmental Research Satellites were especially designed for piggyback launching from large primary mission vehicles. More...

USAF Recommended Station American manned space station. Study 1962. During 1962 NASA Centers, the Air Force, and many of the major aerospace contractors were developing possible space station concepts and studying their potential uses. More...

X-15A-3 American manned spaceplane. Cancelled 1962. It had been proposed that X-15 number 3 would be reworked to install a delta wing and designed to reach Mach 8. More...

KH-6 American military surveillance satellite. 3 launches, 1963.03.18 (KH-6 8001) to 1963.07.31 (KH 4A-07). US reconnaissance satellite, lashed together to meet an emergency requirement for close-up imaging of a suspected Soviet ICBM site near Tallinn. More...

KH-7 American military surveillance satellite. 43 launches, 1963.07.12 (KH 7-01 (Gambit)) to 1967.06.04 (KH 7-38). US reconnaissance satellite. Still classified. Camera believed to have ground resolution of 0.46 m. Film returned in two capsules. More...

KH-4A American military surveillance satellite. 70 launches, 1963.08.25 (KH-4A 1001) to 1969.09.22 (SRV 743R). Early US reconnaissance satellite. Carried two 'J-1' panoramic cameras, with a focal length of 61 cm, and a ground resolution of 2.7 m. More...

APL American earth magnetosphere satellite. 3 launches, 1963.09.28 (APL SN 39) to 1964.12.13 (APL SN 43). Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory built several satellites for the Air Force in the 1960's. More...

X-15A-2 American manned spaceplane. Study 1965. The crash-damaged X-15 number 2 was rebuilt to attain even higher speeds. The body frame was stretched, and two drop tanks were added, increasing propellant load by 75%. More...

Program 437 America's second operational anti-satellite system, launched on sub-orbital trajectories by Thor LV-2D's operated by the US Air Force from Johnson Atoll in the Pacific. Operational 1964-1970. More...

Gemini EMU American space mobility device, tested 1966. Vought developed the EMU, which was to have been flown in the Gemini program. This design approach led to the Space Shuttle's MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit) was put into operation. More...

G5C American space suit, operational 1965. This David Clark lightweight suit was developed for long duration project Gemini missions. It was designed to be easily removed during flight and to provide greater comfort than the standard Gemini space suit. More...

INSATRAC American military anti-satellite system. Study 1965. Follow-on to SAINT anti-satellite. No information available beyond the name. More...

Space Sled American space mobility device, tested 1965. Marquardt developed a sled design in the mid-1960's for maneuvering in the vicinity of a spacecraft. The space sled approach was dropped in preference to the shuttle manned maneuvering unit. More...

G4C AMU American space suit, operational 1966. This space suit was designed to provide thermal protection to astronauts using the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU). More...

OV3 American earth magnetosphere satellite. 6 launches, 1966.04.22 (OV3-01) to 1967.12.05 (OV3-06). The OV3 GUS General Utility Satellite were built for the Air Force as part of the OV3 satellite series. More...

MOL American manned space station. Cancelled 1969. MOL (Manned Orbiting Laboratory) was the US Air Force's manned space project after Dynasoar was cancelled, until it in turn was cancelled in 1969. The earth orbit station used a helium-oxygen atmosphere. More...

OV5 American earth magnetosphere satellite. 8 launches, 1967.04.28 (OV5-03) to 1969.05.23 (OV5-09). OV5 was a version of the USAF Environmental Research Satellites dedicated to radiation research and VLF plasma wave detection. More...

ILRV American manned spaceplane. Study 1968. In late 1968 the USAF Flight Dynamics Laboratory proposed its Integrated Launch and Re-entry Vehicle. This was a 1.5 stage-to-orbit concept with an external drop tank. More...

Program 922 American military anti-satellite system. Study 1968. Program 922 was a non-nuclear sub-orbital ASAT in development in the late 1960's. More...

IMLSS American space mobility device. Cancelled 1969. In 1968-69 Hamilton Standard developed this Integrated Maneuvering Life Support System (IMLSS) for the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory program. More...

MOL Space Suit American space suit. Cancelled 1969. Space suit designed to support launch/re-entry and Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) aboard the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory. Developed from 1965-1969, when MOL was cancelled. More...

DSP American military early warning satellite. 23 launches, 1970.11.06 (IMEWS 1) to 2007.11.11 (USA 176). An evolving series of satellites built by the United States to detect intercontinental ballistic missiles on launch. More...

P 72 American military technology satellite. One launch, 1975.04.13. Unknown satellite lost on a single Atlas launch failure. Evidently not repeated. More...

SPIKE American military anti-satellite system. Study 1975. Project SPIKE was a 1970's suborbital conventional warhead ASAT air-launched from an F-106 interceptor. Considerable work was done from the early 1970s under the Missile and Space Defense Program. More...

KH-11 American military surveillance satellite. 9 launches, 1976.12.19 (KH-11 no. 1) to 1988.11.06 (USA 33). Also known as Kennan, Program 1010. Used systems developed for KH-10 Manned Orbiting Laboratory. More...

Conventional ASAT American military anti-satellite system. Study 1978. In May 1978, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a priority list of potential Soviet target satellites for the MHV hit-to-kill ASAT then under development. More...

HILAT American communications satellite. One launch, 1983.06.27. Communications technology tests. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication. More...

HS 381 American military communications satellite. 4 launches, 1984.08.30 (Syncom IV-2) to 1985.08.27 (Syncom IV-4). The Leasat HS 381 series was developed as a commercial venture to provide dedicated communications services to the U. S. military. More...

Polar Bear American earth magnetosphere satellite. One launch, 1986.11.14. also known as STP P87-1, a military mission designed to study communications interference caused by solar flares and increased auroral activity. More...

Gun-Launched ASAT American military anti-satellite system. Study 1990. One of the applications of the superguns Gerald Bull was designing for Iraq would have been firing of an anti-satellite shell that would have blinded Western spy satellites with a sticky material. More...

MPEC American military technology satellite. One launch, 1991.04.28, USA 70. Spacecraft engaged in research and exploration of the upper atmosphere or outer space. More...

AFP-675 American military technology satellite. One launch, 1991.04.28. US Air Force space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology. More...

Milstar American military communications satellite. 6 launches, 1994.02.07 (USA 99) to 2003.04.08 (USA 169). Milstar was a series of advanced US military communications satellites designed to provide global jam-resistant communications for military users. More...

FORTE American earth magnetosphere satellite. One launch, 1997.08.29. FORTE - 'Fast On-orbit Recording of Transient Events' - was a US Los Alamos National Laboratory satellite designed to study natural and artificial radio emissions from the ionosphere. More...

Falcon Gold American navigation technology satellite. One launch, 1997.10.25. US Air Force Academy experiment to demonstrate use of GPS navigation in geosynchronous orbit. More...

GPS Block 3 American navigation satellite. Study 2010. GPS III, as planned in 2003, would be the fifth generation of Navstar satellites. They would continue to deliver the new civil signals and improved military codes initiated on the GPS IIR-M and IIF programs. More...

Lunex US Air Force manned lunar base. Studied 1958-1961. The final lunar expedition plan of 1961 was for a 21-airman underground Air Force base on the moon by 1968 at a total cost of $ 7.5 billion. More...

Lunex US Air Force manned lunar base. Studied 1958-1961. The final lunar expedition plan of 1961 was for a 21-airman underground Air Force base on the moon by 1968 at a total cost of $ 7.5 billion. More...

SLS BC-2720 American orbital launch vehicle. The BC-2720 was the member of the SLS family selected to boost the Air Force Lunex lunar lander on a direct lunar trajectory. This would have used four 180 inch solid rocket boosters strapped around an the 'C' Lox/LH2 core vehicle. The core would have required either 12 J-2 engines or 2 M-1 engines. The translunar injection third stage was the 'B', with a single J-2 engine. More...

SLS A-410 American orbital launch vehicle. The smallest identified member of the SLS family, selected to place the Air Force Lunex lunar lander re-entry vehicle in a low earth orbit for initial tests, was the A-410. This consisted of the 'A' Lox/LH2 stage supplemented by 100-inch diameter solid fuel booster rockets. More...

SLS AB-825 American orbital launch vehicle. The AB-825 represented a medium launch vehicle of the USAF 1961 Space Launching System family. The AB-825 would have conducted earth orbit tests of partially-fuelled Lunex lunar lander stages, and also have boosted the Lunex manned glider on circumlunar test flights. It consisted of the 'A' stage and 'B' stages with 180 inch diameter short-length solid fuel booster motors. More...

SLS A-388 American orbital launch vehicle. The A-388 was the version of the Space Launching System family proposed to fill the SLV-4 requirement - boost to orbit of the Dynasoar manned spaceplane. The booster was dubbed 'Phoenix' - perhaps a hope it could be rescued from the ashes of the manned space program having been turned over to NASA.... More...

SLS American orbital launch vehicle. In the mid-1950's, US Air Force-funded studies identified the optimum long-term solution for space launch. The studies indicated the desirability of segmented solids for a first stage to achieve low cost, high reliability and flexibility of basic booster size by adding or subtracting segments. Studies further showed that oxygen-hydrogen propellants, with their very high specific impulse, were a preferred choice for upper stages, where mass was more important. This choice also resulted in minimum systems cost. More...

Aerospaceplane American winged orbital launch vehicle. Development project from 1958-1963 for a horizontal takeoff / horizontal landing, single-stage-to-orbit vehicle that would carry three crew and additional paylaod from any airfield to orbit and back More...

AACB Class 1 American winged orbital launch vehicle. In 1965-1966 NASA and the Department of Defense jointly studied two-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicles as a follow-on to existing expendable launchers. Following review of the three classes of alternative approaches, it was recommended that the immediate goal of the United States should be development of a partially reusable 'Class I' launch vehicle, which could be available by 1975 and would be competitive with existing expendable boosters. A fully reusable vehicle should only be pursued at a later date. More...

AACB Class 2 American winged orbital launch vehicle. The AACB Class II launch vehicle was a fully reusable, two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle. Both stages would be lifting bodies and be powered by Lox/LH2 engines. The system would be operational by 1978 and place 9,100 kg of payload in orbit. More...

AICBM Advanced Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, a planned 1966 successor to the Minuteman. Cancelled in 1967, with the Minuteman also outlasting such competitors as the Peacekeeper and SICBM, to remain in service to the mid-21st Century. More...

X-30 American SSTO winged orbital launch vehicle. Air-breathing scramjet single stage to orbit. Second attempt after study of similar proposal in early 1960's. Cancelled due to cost, technical challenges. More...

Associated Programs

DMSP The first CORONA photos in August 1960 convinced authorities that knowledge of cloud cover over Russia was necessary and could be obtained only via satellite. Since the civilian TIROS program could not yet meet the requirement, the Director, National Reconnaissance Office authorized an 'interim' effort - the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. The satellite series continued to be updated and served into the 21st Century. More...

ELINT Various US electronic intelligence satellites, most of them from the Naval Research Laboratory, were orbited in the 1960's and still remain classified. More...

Explorer Series of satellites launched by Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the exploration of the space environment (micrometeoroids, charged particles, radiation, etc) from both earth orbital and heliocentric orbital locations. More...

Mercury Mercury was America's first man-in-space project. Setting the precedent for the later Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle programs, any capsule configuration proposed by the contractors was acceptable as long as it was the one NASA's Langley facility, and in particular, Max Faget, had developed. McDonnell, at that time a renegade contractor of innovative Navy fighters that had a history of problems in service, received the contract. The capsule had to be as small as possible to match the payload capability of America's first ICBM, the Atlas, which would be used for orbital missions. The resulting design was less than a third of the weight of the Russian Vostok spacecraft, and more limited as a result. More...

Navaho The Navaho intercontinental cruise missile project was begun just after World War II, at a time when the US Army Air Force considered ballistic missiles to be technically impractical. The Navaho required a large liquid propellant rocket engine to get its Mach 3 ramjet up to ignition speed. This engine, derived with German assistance from that of the V-2, provided the basis for the rockets that would later take Americans into space. More...

Navstar The Navstar GPS (Global Positioning System) program was a joint service effort directed by the United States Department of Defence. Navstar GPS is a space-based radio-positioning system nominally consisting of a 24-satellite constellation that provides navigation and timing information to military and civilian users worldwide. In addition to the satellites, the system consists of a worldwide satellite control network and GPS receiver units that acquire the satellite's signals and translate them into position information. Originally envisioned as primarily a military system, GPS was found to have a wide variety of civilian applications, many of them never conceived by the original system's designers. More...

Oscar Amateur radio satellite network. For over a third of a century a series of OSCAR satellites have been launched in a variety of configurations and by many nations. More...

Pioneer The Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pioneer series were the first US probes sent towards the moon. Later Pioneers explored the heliocentric space environment and were the first spacecraft to reach the outer planets and to escape from the solar system. More...

Transit Spin-stabilized Transit satellites were developed by the US Navy into the first operational navigation satellite system, for use by ballistic missile submarines and surface vessels. Early Transits carried a variety of piggy-back payloads, many still classified. Transit was also known as the Navy Navigation Satellite (NNS). Transit provided continuous navigation satellite service from 1964, initially for Polaris submarines and later for civilian use. More...

Associated Launch Sites

Edwards Edwards Air Force Base, originally known as Muroc Field, is the main test flight centre for the US Air Force. It has been used since the 1940's for flight test of advanced aircraft, rocketplanes, and air-dropped aerospace vehicles launched from B-29, B-50, B-52, F-15, 747 or L-1011 carrier aircraft. More...

Holloman Military missile and sounding rocket launch site. Also notable for several rocket-powered sleds, used to test a variety of manned and unmanned aircraft and aerospace vehicles at supersonic speeds. Known to have been used for 147 major launches from 1948 to 1959, reaching up to 235 kilometers altitude. More...

Cape Canaveral America's largest launch center, used for all manned launches. Today only six of the 40 launch complexes built here remain in use. Located at or near Cape Canaveral are the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, used by NASA for Saturn V and Space Shuttle launches; Patrick AFB on Cape Canaveral itself, operated the US Department of Defense and handling most other launches; the commercial Spaceport Florida; the air-launched launch vehicle and missile Drop Zone off Mayport, Florida, located at 29.00 N 79.00 W, and an offshore submarine-launched ballistic missile launch area. All of these take advantage of the extensive down-range tracking facilities that once extended from the Cape, through the Caribbean, South Atlantic, and to South Africa and the Indian Ocean. More...

Vandenberg Vandenberg Air Force Base is located on the Central Coast of California about 240 km northwest of Los Angeles. It is used for launches of unmanned government and commercial satellites into polar orbit and intercontinental ballistic missile test launches toward the Kwajalein Atoll. More...

Poker Flat Sounding rocket launch site. In use from 1969 to present. Poker Flat Rocket Range (PFRR) contains five major launch pads. Pads 1 and 2 each have a 7.5K launcher, pads 3 and 4 each contain 20K MRL launchers, and pad 5 contains a 4K twin boom launcher. Pad 3 is equipped with a moveable launcher enclosure which can be used to protect a rocket on pad 3 and workers from the severe winter weather. More...

Eniwetok Nuclear test sites. Sounding rockets were launched from here to monitor nuclear blast effects and fallout from 22 October 1957. Known to have been used for 7 launches from 1957 to 1958, reaching up to 5000 kilometers altitude. More...

Johnston Island US military base on this island in the Pacific Ocean. Used for rocket-launched nuclear tests in the 1950's. In the 1960's it was the site for the operational AFP-437 anti-satellite system. The system was retired in 1975. Several sounding rockets were also launched over the years, either in support of nuclear tests or in experiments related to anti-satellite technology. Known to have been used for 124 launches from 1958 to 1975, reaching up to 1158 kilometers altitude. More...

Ramey Sounding rocket launch site used in support of high-altitude monitoring after Project Argus nuclear tests. Six launches in 1958 reached up to 825 kilometers altitude. More...

Eglin This US Air Force proving ground and missile test range, based in Valparaiso, Florida and extending over a vast expanse of the Gulf of Mexico, was founded in 1935, In early 1946 the First Experimental Guided Missiles Group was activated at Eglin. The highly-instrumented Eglin Gulf Test Range supported flight tests of Bomarc, Matador, Quail, and Hound Dog cruise missiles. Both the military and NASA used Eglin to support launch of sounding rockets in support of their programs. Eglin was known to have been used for 441 launches from 1959 to 1980, reaching up to 686 kilometers altitude. The actual number of missile tests was many times greater. More...

Presque Isle AFB At this site the 556th Squadron of the USAF 702nd Strategic Missile Wing Squadron 556th operated the Snark intercontinental cruise missile from January 1959 to 25 June 25 1961. More...

RAF Driffield At this location the 8th RAF Strategic Missile Squadron operated 15 Thor IRBM launchers from 22 December 1959 to April 1963. They were withdrawn as part of the secret agreement between Kennedy and Khrushchev ending the Cuban missile crisis, under which all Thor missiles were to be removed from Europe. More...

RAF Feltwell At this location the 77th RAF Strategic Missile Squadron operated 15 Thor IRBM launchers from 15 June 22 1959 to 1 July 1963. They were withdrawn as part of the secret agreement between Kennedy and Khrushchev ending the Cuban missile crisis, under which all Thor missiles were to be removed from Europe. More...

RAF Hemswell At this location the 7th RAF Strategic Missile Squadron operated 15 Thor IRBM launchers from 11 Sept. 1959 to 15 May 1963. They were withdrawn as part of the secret agreement between Kennedy and Khrushchev ending the Cuban missile crisis, under which all Thor missiles were to be removed from Europe. More...

Ellsworth AFB Titan I and Minuteman ICBM base 1962-1994. Ellsworth hosted the unique 'Long Life' test of a Minuteman ICBM in 1965. This was the only launch of an ICBM from an operational inland US missile site. More...

RAF North Luffenham At this location the RAF No. 144 (Strategic Missile) Squadron operated 15 Thor IRBM launchers from 29 April 29 1960 to September 1963. The other units in the North Luffenham Thor complex were No. 218 (SM) Sqn at Harrington, Northamptonshire, No. 223 (SM) Sqn at Folkingham, Lincolnshire, No. 130 (SM) Sqn at Polebrook, Northamptonshire and No. 254 (SM) Sqn at Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. They were withdrawn as part of the secret agreement between Kennedy and Khrushchev ending the Cuban missile crisis, under which all Thor missiles were to be removed from Europe. More...

Beale AFB Titan I ICBM base. Beale was originally used as an army base in World War II. In 1959 it was selected as headquarters for the 851st Strategic Missile Squadron with nine Titan 1 missiles. Three complexes of three silos each were located 40 to 100 km west of the base. The missiles were emplaced in the silos between 28 February and 20 April 1962. However due to its poor reaction time the Titan 1's career was brief. Only three years later, by the end of April 1965, the squadron was deactivated, the missiles removed, and the silos abandoned. More...

Davis-Monthan AFB Titan 2 ICBM base. Davis-Monthan, a US military base since 1925, was selected in 1960 as the headquarters for a Titan 2 ICBM wing (the 570th). By the end of 1962 18 silos had been built, at the cost of five lives and many injuries. The missiles remained on alert in their silos for nearly twenty years, until the decision was taken to retire them in October 1981. The missiles were removed for refurbishment and use as space launchers. The silos were demolished with explosives beginning 30 November 1983. One silo was preserved as the Titan Missile Museum. More...

Ascension Sounding rocket launch site located on an island in the South Atlantic near a NASA/USAF tracking station. Known to have been used for 1703 launches from 1963 to 2000, reaching up to 158 kilometers altitude. More...

Barbados Sounding rocket launch site located on island in the Caribbean. It was also from here that Gerard Bull tested his Martlet series of gun-launched sounding rockets. Known to have been used for 40 launches from 1963 to 1968, reaching up to 150 kilometers altitude. More...

Green River Military testing range used to launch several hundred Athena rockets from 1964 to 1973. These sent re-entry test vehicles or anti-ballistic missile targets to impact points in the US Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This was one of the few examples of sustained interstate missile tests within the United States. Known to have been used for 244 launches from 1964 to 1975, reaching up to 281 kilometers altitude. More...

Thule AFB Air Force base used for a series of geomagnetic pole sounding rocket launches from 1970 to 1976. Also known to have been used for 988 launches from 1964 to 1980, reaching up to 122 kilometers altitude. More...

Sonde Stromfjord The Danish Meteorological Institute established this sounding rocket range in 1971. The site was located next to an airport at the end of the fjord and was only occupied during launch campaigns. The location was well-suited for observation of the Arctic aurora and ionosphere. Known to have been used for 31 launches from 1971 to 1987, reaching up to 816 kilometers altitude. More...

Wake Island US Pacific test vehicle launch site. In use from 1974 for launches of re-entry test vehicles and anti-ballistic missile targets. Known to have been used for 18 launches from 1974 to 2004, reaching up to 500 kilometers altitude. More...

Eareckson Sounding rocket launch location known to have been used for 701 launches from 1975 to 1989, reaching up to 300 kilometers altitude. More...

Comiso US base in the 1980's for 37 BGM-109G ground-launched cruise missiles. The launchers and missiles were withdrawn and destroyed under the INF Treaty with the Soviet Union. More...

Florennes US base in the 1980's for 12 BGM-109G ground-launched cruise missiles. The launchers and missiles were withdrawn and destroyed under the INF Treaty with the Soviet Union. More...

Greenham Common US base in the 1980's for 29 BGM-109G ground-launched cruise missiles. The launchers and missiles were withdrawn and destroyed under the INF Treaty with the Soviet Union. More...

Molesworth US base in the 1980's for 6 BGM-109G ground-launched cruise missiles. The launchers and missiles were withdrawn and destroyed under the INF Treaty with the Soviet Union. More...

Wueschheim US base in the 1980's for 31 BGM-109G ground-launched cruise missiles. The launchers and missiles were withdrawn and destroyed under the INF Treaty with the Soviet Union. More...

Nativ first attempted launch - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 1.00 km (0.60 mi). First launch attempt of MX-770 technology demonstrator. Seven rockets were built in total. There is very inconsistent information on the flight series. One source speaks of six launches, another of four, and a third of three. It seems that there were six launch attempts, three of which never made it very far off the pad, two made it some distance aloft, and only one was considered somewhat successful (reaching Mach 2.23 and an altitude of 18 km).

MX-774 Flight 1 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 1.00 km (0.60 mi). Summary: First Convair MX-774 (RTV-A-2) test rocket was successfully launched, first demonstrating use of gimballed engines and design features later incorporated in the Atlas ICBM. This was the first of three Convair-sponsored test flights..

Navaho X-10 flight 24 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: Navaho. Full-range test with final dive maneuver. Swan song of vehicle eight after three successful recovered missions. During takeoff the vehicle was aloft, then settled back to the runway with its brakes locked. The tires burst, the gear failed, the gear doors were in contact with the runway, carving grooves in the pavement as they retracted. Then, astonishingly, the vehicle rose from the runway, completed a successful full-range supersonic flight with terminal dive into the waters off Grand Bahamas.

Series I research and development launch - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 0 km ( mi). Summary: First attempted test flight of USAF Thor IRBM, only 13 months after first production contracts were signed, failed to launch..

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 14 km (8 mi). The first Jupiter flight was fired at 1651 hours EST from AMR. The missile achieved a 48,000 foot altitude. Flight terminated at 7.4 seconds because of missile break-up. Failure was attributed to overheating in the tail section. The trajectory to this point was as predicted.

Navaho G-26 Flight 2 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 9.00 km (5.50 mi). G-26 number two / booster 6 lifted off after a 9 hour 48 minute countdown with nearly five hours of holds, on the first attempt after two successful static firings. However failure of a launch lanyard meant the kerosene start-pod on the booster remained attached. This sheared off at 4500 m, causing extensive booster damage. Thrust decayed. The cruise stage separated at Mach 1.3 at 28,300 feet, but this was below ramjet ignition speed. However the pilot on the ground was able to assume radio control of the vehicle, and flew it in a glide over the ocean, even demonstrating landing gear deployment before it pancaked into the water.

Series I research and development launch - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 0 km ( mi). Douglas Thor IRBM (XSM-75) was launched at Cape Canaveral, Fla., destroyed by range safety officer. The missile was actually on course throughout its flight. The console wiring error led the range safety officer to believe it was headed inland rather than out to sea, so he hit the destruct button.

Navaho G-26 Flight 3 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 0 km ( mi). Vehicle 4 was still not ready for the first Broomstick flight, so vehicle 5 was substituted. It took five attempts before a 15.6 second static test cleared the booster for launch on 29 March. 8 hours and 42 minutes of hold stretched the five-hour countdown out into the evening. The booster ignited, rose 1.3 m, then shut down. The vehicle fell back onto the pad, exploding. Cause was a 15-second timer that was supposed to shut the engines down 15 seconds after the vehicle hold-downs released if a lanyard had not been pulled free of the vehicle as it rose off the ground. The 15 seconds had been reached before the lanyard pulled free, but by then the vehicle had risen off the pad. This made 15 attempts to launch a Navaho, with only two booster ignitions, both resulting in loss of the vehicle. The Northrop crews at the Cape dubbed their competitor the "Never-Go Navaho" to counter jibes directed at them about the "Snark-infested waters" off the launch area. The Air Force was not amused, and had a tiger-team review of the G-26 on a system-basis which recommended several procedures. Meanwhile G-38 launch plans were further delayed over internal USAF wrangles over launch facility construction.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Summary: Fired from AMR at 1512 hours EST to test the design version of the airframe and rocket engine. The flight terminated at 93 seconds because of propellant slosh. The missile achieved an altitude of 60,000 feet. The flight was partially successful..

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Army Jupiter IRBM was fired 1,500 miles, limit of its designed range, and to an altitude of 250-300 miles, the first successful launching of an IRBM. Fired from AMR at 1308 hours EST to test the range capability and performance of rocket engine and control system. Although the missile was 253 nm short of its estimated 1,400 nm impact point, this was the first successful flight of the Jupiter. All phases of the test were successful during this first firing of the IRBM in the western world

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 3.00 km (1.80 mi). Summary: First test flight of prototype WS-107A Atlas was detonated by command signal at 10,000 feet following a failure in the booster fuel system. The 23-second flight was considered a partial success..

Navaho G-26 Flight 4 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 12 km (7 mi). The missile launched from the repaired LC-9 on the third attempt. At T+42 seconds, Mach 1.63, and 7,000 m altitude, a fire occurred in the engine compartment after a failure of a regenerative cooling valve to the gas generator. The turbopump shut down, and one engine went out. Nevertheless the vehicle continued, first on one engine, then coasting, to 12,000 m altitude, and the booster separated successfully. But the cruise stage was below ramjet ignition velocity. Again ground control could bring the cruise stage under control as a glider, flying it to an impact 87 km downrange

Navaho G-26 Flight 5 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 25 km (15 mi). After a 15 hour 18 minute countdown G-26 number four finally left the pad. The boost phase was completed successfully; but then a guidance system malfunction prevented the cruise stage from separating from the booster until an altitude of 25 km was reached. However the autopilot successfully overcome drastic pitch oscillations created by the lofted trajectory, and the ramjets were successfully ignited. The stage cruised at Mach 2.93 for 280 km. However then the vehicle began drifting off course. The ground pilot banked, but the fuselage screened the airflow to the left ramjet intake, resulting in that engine flaming out. The vehicle lost speed and altitude, and the right engine flamed out a minute later. The missile was ordered into a terminal dive, impacting 425 km downrange.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). The fourth Jupiter was fired from AMR at 1602 hours EST over IRBM range and was the second successful flight of the series. The range error was 27.5 nm with a 36.5 nm lateral error. Range was predicted for 146 nm. LOX was cut off at 170 seconds. All flight missions were fulfilled satisfactorily. Separation occurred 5 seconds after burnout, as programmed, This was the first test of separation of body from thrust unit.

Navaho G-26 Flight 6 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 23 km (14 mi). The booster worked well, the cruise stage separated at 23.5 km altitude. The ramjets ignited, and the cruise stage accelerated to Mach 3.5. After 15 minutes, the missile began drifting off-course, and ground control took over and banked the missile. One of the ramjets flamed out, and the missile was commanded into a terminal dive and impacted 930 km downrange.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 4.00 km (2.40 mi). Summary: Atlas was again destroyed by command signal at three minutes into flight following a failure in the booster fuel system. The 50-second active flight was considered a partial success..

Meteorites mission - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 87 km (54 mi). USAF successfully launched pellets at a speed faster than 15 km/sec (some 3.5 km/sec faster than the velocity necessary to escape from the earth) by an Aerobee rocket to a height of 56 km; the nose section then ascended to a height of 87 km where shaped charges blasted the pellets into space. It is claimed that the Superschmidt Telescope at Sacremento Peak photographed the trajectory with a rotating shutter. These little metal pellets would therefore be the first objects to be shot into interplanetary space, months before the first launch to escape velocity (Luna 1, January 1959). But also see August 1957 nuclear test that may have blasted a manhole cover to escape velocity.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). The fifth Jupiter was fired from the AMR at 2007 hours EST. This was the first flight with a heat protected nose cone. The ST-90 inertial guidance stabilised platform was operated with partially closed circuits. Cut-off was effected by the guidance system at 170.37 seconds. Since fuel was not depleted, flight time was 9.5 seconds longer than had been predicted for an approximate 1,100 nm range. The range error was 10.2 nm with a 3.4 nm lateral error. The nose cone survived re-entry and impacted in the general vicinity of the predicted impact point. Again, a successful flight.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 20 km (12 mi). Fired from AMR at 2110 hours EST. Main stage, lift-off, and powered flight were normal. The missile passed through the critical dynamic pressure period and followed the prescribed trajectory until 202 seconds of flight when the engine thrust was terminated. From an analysis covering the period before thrust termination, mechanical failure of the turbo-pump stopped the flow of propellants to the combustion chamber causing a complete loss of thrust. Telemetry signals ceased at 232 seconds. The missile was at an altitude of 65,000 feet when an explosion was observed from the Test Centre above the horizon. The long range mission of this flight was not accomplished; however, other primary and secondary missions were considered successful.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 120 km (70 mi). Summary: First successful test firing of USAF Atlas ICBM, the missile landing in the target area after a flight of 600 miles..

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Fired from AMR at 1507 hours EST. The main-stage, lift-off, and powered flight were normal. The missile followed the prescribed trajectory. Thrust ended abruptly at 116.87 seconds of flight which resulted in a short-range impact. Failure was again attributed to turbo-pump malfunction. The long-range mission. was not accomplished; however, other primary and secondary missions were successfully accomplished. The abrupt shutdown of the power plant resulted in a range of approximately 149 nm and an altitude of approximately 50 nm.

Navaho G-26 Flight 8 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 22 km (13 mi). The booster functioned well, the cruise stage separated at 22 km and Mach 3.15. The ramjets ignited and the cruise stage flew at a sustained speed of Mach 2.8 for forty minutes over a distance of 2000 km. Then the vehicle began a turn for the return to the Cape for recovery. However it seemed the turn was not fast enough; ground control took over, and yet again the right ramjet flamed out in a ground-piloted bank. The missile was commanded into a terminal dive at sea.

Gaslight Re-entry Vehicle test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). AM-5, carrying America's first tactical type re-entry nose cone, was fired from AMR at 0005 hours EST. This was also the first flight test. for first and second stage separation. Impact was 28.3 nm under and 15.6 nm to the right at a range of about 1,275 nm after approximately 960 seconds of flight. In less than five hours, the nose cone was recovered - the world's first recovery of an IRBM nose cone.

Man-In-Space-Soonest - .
Crew: Walker, Joseph; Crossfield; Armstrong; Rushworth; Bridgeman; White, Alvin; Kincheloe; White, Robert; McKay. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Walker, Joseph; Crossfield; Armstrong; Rushworth; Bridgeman; White, Alvin; Kincheloe; White, Robert; McKay. Agency: USAF. Flight: Man-In-Space-Soonest. Spacecraft: Project 7969. In a US Air Force briefing a preliminary astronaut selection for the Man-In-Space Soonest project is made. The list consisted of USAF test pilots Robert Walker, Scott Crossfield, Neil Armstrong, Robert Rushworth, William Bridgeman, Alvin White, Iven Kincheloe, Robert White, and Jack McKay. This was the first preliminary astronaut selection in history. The project was cancelled when NASA was formed in and took responsibility for all manned space flight on 1 August 1958. Prospective contractors estimated it would take from 12 to 30 months to put the first American in orbit. In retrospect the orbital flight portion of NASA's Mercury program was paced by the availability of the Atlas booster. Therefore it is unlikely Man-in-Space-Soonest would have put an American in orbit any earlier than Mercury.

Gaslight Re-entry Vehicle test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Fired from AMR at 0404 hours EST to a pre-calculated range of 1,241.3 nm. The nose cone impacted 1.0 nm short and 1.5 nm to the right of the predicted impact point. This was the first flight test of the complete inertial guidance system. The nose cone recovery mission was successful. This was also the second successful flight test of a full scale tactical type nose cone, as well as a successful flight test of the Jupiter lightweight, high explosive warhead.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Fired from AMR at 1815 hours EST. The countdown was normal. Operations were interrupted by one hold -- a 15 minute delay for minor adjustments. Ignition, main-stage, and lift-off were normal. The missile followed the pre-selected trajectory closely during powered flight, though cut-off was effected by fuel depletion rather than by pre-set guidance cut-off. The nose cone impacted 39 nm short and 15.7 nm to the left of the pre-calculated range of 1,246 nm. Jupiter 7 was the first flight test of the warhead and fuse system. This also marked the second flight test of the :Jupiter all-inertial guidance system, the fourth flight test of the NAA S-3D engine operating at 150,000 pounds thrust, and the first flight test of the solid propellant spin rocket and vernier motor.

Navaho G-26 Flight 10 RISE-1 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 25 km (15 mi). North American had received funding to fly seven surplus G-26 missiles in a program dubbed RISE (Research Into Supersonic Environment), ostensibly to obtain real-world data on Mach 3 flight for the F-108 interceptor and B-70 bomber that they were developing for the USAF. On this first attempt, the booster performed well, but after separation the cruise stage fuel system failed, and ramjet ignition never occurred. The cruise stage impacted 150 km downrange.

Navaho X-10 Drone BOMARC target mission 1 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: Navaho. The remaining X-10's were expended as targets for Bomarc and Nike antiaircraft missiles. The X-10 flew out over the ocean, then accelerated toward the Cape at supersonic speed. A Bomarc A missile came within lethal miss distance. The X-10 then autolanded on the Skid Strip, but both the drag chute and landing barrier failed. The vehicle ran off the runway and exploded.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 0 km ( mi). Fired from AMR at 2249 hours EST. The missile was destroyed after 49 seconds of erratic flight caused by fire in the tail section. The fire was believed to have started by a pin-hole leak near the thrust transducer which burned through the fuel and LOX transducer lines. This was the first Jupiter missile to use swivelled turbine exhaust for roll contral, also first use of solid vernier control.

Meteorites mission - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 177 km (109 mi). Summary: First flight of the Aerobee 300 / Spaerobee. The Aerobee was shut down early by range safety when the missile went off course..

Navaho X-10 Drone BOMARC target mission 2 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: Navaho. Summary: The X-10 flew out over the ocean, then accelerated toward the Cape. However the Bomarc A failed to launch. Autoland was successful, but again the drag chute and landing barrier both failed, and the vehicle burned after overrunning the runway..

Research and development / AFSWC-3 test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 900 km (550 mi). Summary: Less than 18 months after the first flight, a USAF Atlas made its first successful full-range operational test flight in a 6,325 statute-mile flight, landed close to its target..

Bioflight 1 Biological mission - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Gordo launched into space. Fired from AMR at 0353 hours EST. The missile's nose cone impacted in the pre-selected target area at a range of approximately 1,302 nm. The significant mission of the missile was the flight of a South American squirrel monkey `Gordo' up to and down from outer space. Although nose cone recovery efforts failed because the float mechanism attached to the nose cone did not function, telemetry data provided useful biomedical information and disclosed that the Navy-trained squirrel monkey had withstood the space flight and reentry phase without any adverse physiological effects. Gordo was in a weightless state for 8.3 minutes, he experienced a 10g pressure in takeoff, and a 40g pressure upon reentry at 10,000 miles per hour. The flight was considered one of the outstanding achievements of space research. The impact was 5.2 nm over and 0.75 nm to the right of impact point. The overshoot was caused by interaction which occurred at separation between the booster and aft sections. A temporary cable connecting the two bodies had not been removed prior to launch.

Tactical test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Tactical Test. The first Chrysler production qualification missile was fired from AMR at 1910 hours EST. The nose cone impacted in the pre-selected target area at a range of 1,302 nm. Miss distance was 3 nm over and 1 nm to the left of the target. The overshoot was caused by failure of the vernier engine to cut off high resistance of the squib firing circuit. Primary missions were successfully accomplished.

Navaho X-10 Drone BOMARC target mission 3 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: Navaho. Summary: The X-10 was launched with only one electrical generator due to a lack of any remaining spares. As it headed out over the ocean, that generator failed. It lost all electrical power, and crashed into the ocean 105 km downrange..

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Fired from AMR at 1850 hours EST. The primary mission of impacting the nose cone in a pre-calculated target (MILS Network) was successfully accomplished, The nose cone impacted in the 1,302 nm target area, 2.8 nm over, with no lateral deviations. Again, the vernier engine ran to cut-off rather than the commanded 14 seconds -- a near perfect flight. For the first rime, missile roll was controlled by a turbine exhaust nozzle designed to eliminate problems experienced on previous flights.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Fired from AMR at 1934 hours EST. The primary mission of impacting a nose cone in a pre-calculated target area (MILS Network) was successfully accomplished with an impact of 0.8 nm under end 5.0 nm to the left of the 1,302 nm range. The lateral miss was believed to have been caused by a drifting gyro.

Research and development test / ionosphere mission - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Fired from AMR at 2047 hours EST. All primary missions were essentially successful, although the impact was 69 nm short and 4.9 nm to the right of the 1,302 nm predicted impact point. This undershoot was due to thrust controller deviation which commanded the exceedingly high thrust level during the main power flight pre-selected flight path. Cut-off occurred at 144 seconds of flight.

Research and development test / ionosphere mission - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Fired from AMR at 0052 hours EST to test impact accuracy. This shot may be considered as having hit the target. The impact was: .26 nm over and 0.4 nm to the left of the predicted point of impact. Accuracy of the MILS Network was approximated at plus-or-minus 0.25 nm. All primary and secondary missions were accomplished except for photographic recording of the second separation. This could not be accomplished because of the firing date.

Bioflight 2 Test/Ionosphere mission - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 483 km (300 mi). Able and Baker recovered after spaceflight. Fired from AMR at 0235 hours EST. The flight was successful with impact ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 nm from the target. The missile travelled a 1,302 nm range. The significant mission of the missile was to test the effects of cosmic radiation, increased gravity, and weightlessness on live passengers and biomedical experiments of material housed in the nose cone. On board were an American-born rhesus monkey, Able; a squirrel monkey, Baker; and the biomedical experiments -- yeast , corn, mustard seeds, fruit-fly larvae, human blood, mould spore, and fish eggs. Able and Baker were recovered unharmed within one and one-half hours after lift-off. This milestone marked the first recovery of living creatures from a flight through near space. The biomedical experiments were for NASA analysis. Telemetry data disclosed that the responses of the animals were normal for the conditions they were experiencing. During the boost phase, when the higher g-loads were being sustained, body temperature, respiration, pulse rate, and heartbeat rose but were well within tolerable limits. During the weightless period along the trajectory arc, the physiological responses of Able and Baker approached normal - so near, in fact, that according to telemetry data, Baker appeared either to doze or to become drowsy. Upon reentry, the responses rose again, but at landing the animals were nearing a settled physiological state. This flight was another milestone proving that life could be sustained in a space environment.

Research and development test / ionosphere mission - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Fired from AMR at 2001 hours EST to test missile accuracy. All primary and secondary missions were successfully accomplished and impact was well within 1 nm of the pre-selected point, approximately 1,302 nm downrange -- a miss distance of only 0.48 nm short and 0.09 nm to the right.

Short range research and development mission - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). A short range (300 nm) IRBM, was fired from AMR at 2030 hours EST. The nose cone impacted 0.03 nm short and, 0.22 nm to the right, of the intended target. This was the first Jupiter missile to be programmed for a short range flight. All primary and secondary missions were accomplished.

I live near the Cape on Merritt Island and have been here for about 41 years. I worked for the ARMA Corp that developed the Atlas Inertial Guidance System. I was in the Blockhouse at Complex 11 while a static test was performed on an Atlas Able on Complex 12. It did explode. Did it ever! After a couple of hours the six of us were allowed out of the blockhouse and saw all the damage to our complex...I had a tiny piece of that missile for a long time that somehow wound up on my person...labeled 9C.

The next Atlas Able would not fly until over a year later, using the Atlas D as the booster stage.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Fired from AMR at 2028 hours EST. The primary mission of impacting the nose cone in a pre-calculated target area was successfully accomplished . The missile covered a pre-calculated range of 1,299.4 nm, with the nose cone impacting within 1.25 nm of the predicted point. In addition to the usual ST-90 Stabiliser Platform, the missile carried a second system for relative accuracy and for drift investigations. It also housed a telemetry system. A significant mission was to determine environmental flight conditions.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). The first full range tactical prototype, was fired from AMR at 2220 hours EST. All missions assigned to the flight was successfully accomplished. The missile covered a prescribed range of 1,600.448 nm, with the nose cone impacting 0.9 nm short and 0.6 nm to the right. This was the fourth Chrysler-assembled missile to be flight tested.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 1,800 km (1,100 mi). Summary: USAF Atlas successfully launched from Cape Canaveral carrying a nose-cone camera which took a series of photographs of the earth's cloud cover from a 300-mile altitude..

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Fired from AMR at 1938 hours EST to a pre-selected range of 1,299.4 nm. The nose cone impacted 0.56 nm short and 0.09 nm right of the impact point. The test successfully accomplished all intended missions. This was the first highly successful, Chrysler-assembled Jupiter fired in the test program sad was the first fired without static firing.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Summary: Successfully fired from AMR at 2031 hours EST to a pre-calculated range of 664.8 nm. Nose cone impacted 0.9 nm over and 1.0 nm left of the target. This was the first medium range flight for a tactical prototype..

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Summary: Fired from AMR at 1908 hours EST. The original countdown of 480 minutes was shortened to 240 minutes. The flight was successful in all phases. The nose cone impacted 0.3 nm over and 2.0 nm right of the 2,299.4 nm range..

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Summary: Fired from AMR at 1903 hours EST to a prescribed distance of 300 nm. The flight was successful in all phases. Impact was 0.3 nm to the right of the 300 nm range. .

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF; NASA Huntsville. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Fired from AMR at 1948 hours EST to a prescribed range of: 1,299.4 nm. The nose cone impacted 0.04 nm over and 3.27 nm to the left. All missions were successfully accomplished despite elevated temperatures in the tail section. The primary mission of this flight was to test the two-way deflector launch section and to analyse elevated temperatures in the tail

Mercury MA-1 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: Mercury. Spacecraft: Mercury. Apogee: 13 km (8 mi). Mercury-Atlas 1 (MA-1) was launched from the Atlantic Missile Range in a test of spacecraft structural integrity under maximum heating conditions. After 58.5 seconds of flight, MA-1 exploded and the spacecraft was destroyed upon impact off-shore. None of the primary capsule test objectives were met. The mission objectives were to check the integrity of the spacecraft structure and afterbody shingles for a reentry associated with a critical abort and to evaluate the open-loop performance of the Atlas abort-sensing instrumentation system. The spacecraft contained no escape system and no test subject. Standard posigrade rockets were used to separate the spacecraft from the Atlas, but the retrorockets were dummies. The flight was terminated because of a launch vehicle and adapter structural failure. The spacecraft was destroyed upon impact with the water because the recovery system was not designed to actuate under the imposed flight conditions. Later most of the spacecraft, the booster engines, and the liquid oxygen vent valve were recovered from the ocean floor. Since none of the primary flight objectives was achieved, Mercury-Atlas 2 (MA-2) was planned to fulfill the mission.

Research and development test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 1,800 km (1,100 mi). Summary: Atlas ICBM fired 9030 statute miles, from Cape Canaveral to the Indian Ocean off the Cape of Good Hope in 50 minutes, the second record distance flight..

Mercury MA-2 - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: Mercury. Spacecraft: Mercury. Apogee: 182 km (113 mi). Mercury-Atlas 2 (MA-2) was launched from Cape Canaveral in a test to check maximum heating and its effects during the worst reentry design conditions. The flight closely matched the desired trajectory and attained a maximum altitude of 114.04 statute miles and a range of 1,431.6 statute miles. Inspection of the spacecraft aboard the recovery ship some 55 minutes after launch (actual flight time was 17.56 minutes) indicated that test objectives were met, since the structure and heat protection elements appeared to be in excellent condition. The flight control team obtained satisfactory data; and the complete launch computing and display system, operating for the first time in a flight, performed satisfactorily.

Mercury MS-1 - .
Payload: Radio Test Spacecraft. Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: Mercury. Class: Technology. Type: Tracking network technology satellite. Spacecraft: Radio Test Spacecraft. Small satellite was to have verified the readiness of the worldwide Mercury tracking network. An attempt was made to launch Mercury-Scout 1 (MS-1) into orbit with a communications package further to qualify the radar tracking of the Mercury global network prior to manned orbital flight. Shortly after lift-off, the launch vehicle developed erratic motions and attending high aerodynamic loads, and was destroyed by the Range Safety Officer after 43 seconds of flight. No further attempts were planned. The Mercury-Atlas 4 (MA-4) mission and the successful Mercury-Atlas 5 (MA-5), flown on November 29, 1961, disclosed that the network met all requirements.

Samos 5 - .
Payload: Samos E-5 no. 2. Mass: 1,860 kg (4,100 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Samos. Decay Date: 1962-01-09 . USAF Sat Cat: 218 . COSPAR: 1961-A-Lambda-2. Apogee: 310 km (190 mi). Perigee: 187 km (116 mi). Inclination: 89.6000 deg. Period: 89.40 min. First generation photo surveillance; return of camera and film by capsule; SAMOS type satellite. Reached orbit but failed to deorbit and be recovered. In his memoirs Sergei Khrushchev recounts recovery of what he believed to be a recoverable Samos, except the date given is the winter before tests of this configuration actually started. He relates that a second American capsule was recovered in the spring of 1961. It was equipped with a 30 cm lens and 100ís of metres of 10 cm wide film. Also recovered were a pear-shaped module made of fibreglass, and an inertial orientation system powered by electric motors. It may have been a SAMOS prototype. The capsule was found by tractor drivers, who disassembled it and used the film to wrap around the frame of their outhouse to provide some privacy in the treeless area. Unfortunately this ruined the film, preventing the Russians from developing it and discovering the technical capabilities of the system.

X-15A MH-96 test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: NASA; USAF. Apogee: 54 km (33 mi). Maximum Speed - 4586 kph. Maximum Altitude - 54860 m. The X-15 was flown in a test of a new automatic control system to be used in the Dyna-Soar and Apollo spacecraft. The previous electronic control system had been automatic only while the X-15 was in the atmosphere; the new system was automatic in space as well.

STARFISH PRIME Nuclear test - .
Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Apogee: 400 km (240 mi). Successful high-altitude test of a Thor IRBM with a live nuclear warhead. The payload included test instrumentation and a W-49 warhead/Mk-4 re-entry vehicle. The 1.45 megaton bomb exploded at an altitude of 400 km. The explosion was visible 2,600 km away, at Kwajalein Atoll; an artificial aurora lasted seven minutes. The unforeseen and most militarily significant effect was the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generated by the test. This caused power mains surges in Oahu, knocking out street lights, blowing fuses and circuit breakers, and triggering burglar alarms (and this in the days before microelectronics). The explosion supercharged the Van Allen radiation belts, resulting in several satellites malfunctioning.